Disney Brings ‘WATCH ABC’ App To Four Cities Including L.A.

This is a big step in Disney‘s effort to bring its TV Everywhere app to all of the markets where it owns TV stations, and to Hearst’s 13 ABC affiliates, by the beginning of the fall primetime season. WATCH ABC, which enables pay TV subscribers to stream live broadcasts from their local ABC stations, is already available in New York City and Philadelphia. Beginning today Disney’s expanding the service to Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and Raleigh-Durham. It’s not for everybody, and doesn’t go everywhere: Users need to be customers of Comcast, Cablevision, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Midcontinent Communications or AT&T U-verse. The app works on iOS mobile devices and the Kindle Fire — as well as some Android tablets including the Samsung Galaxy. You have to be in the local market to see the live, linear programming although travelers can access on demand some episodes of ABC’s daytime and primetime shows. The service should be up soon at the ABC-owned stations in Houston and Fresno; Hearst’s 13 ABC markets include Boston, Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Milwaukee. Disney says that it expects to announce additional agreements with station owners as the fall season begins.

5 Comments

Why do you have to be a pay TV subscriber to receive a free over the air signal broadcast using public airwaves?

SinnerBlack • on Jul 1, 2013 8:38 am

That’s really backwards thinking, why would you pay for Satellite or Cable when you can get all of this content on Hulu or “over the air” for free.

Nero theTVFiddler & Mr Zero TV • on Jul 1, 2013 8:38 am

We believe the reason ABC is going this route [although it does seem counter intuitive, as the prior comments have noted] is that they/ABC want to reach mobile devices – people ‘watching live, linear TV’ on the move. That’s our assumption [at this point] from reading this article.

The app [we assume it is ‘free’] probably has a GPS component that determines where a viewer is located. If they are located [at that moment] within an area normally reached via an ABC owned affiliate station’s television-signal over airwaves, then the app will stream the live, linear content to the viewer’s portable (iOS or Android] device. The transmission component [we assume] would be provided via wireless 3G/4G, and that cost is probably going to be picked up via the ‘local’ cable ISP provider – be it AT&T U-Verse, or Comcast, etc. That’s why ABC ‘must’ ensure the end user is already a cable-subscriber – the cable companies (local to the viewer) will be picking up the mobile transmission costs, potentially from AT&T or Verizon, etc. cellular-3G/4G networks.

As the other posts noted, this solution is a bit much, but we believe it is a solution that ‘satisfies’ all parties involved – keeps the local ABC affiliate in the loop, and keeps the cable provider in the path as well. These live streams probably have commercials/ads that will pay the network (ABC in this case), the local station owned by ABC, and the ‘local’ cable/ISP provider. Win-win-win? Maybe, but perhaps not for the ‘customer’, mobile TV viewer. We expect the other ‘big-four’ – NBC, CBS, FOX and CW to apply a similar *live/linear* ‘app’ solution in the future – something beyond what you might find on HULU, NetFlix, On-Demand, etc.

Just FYI for any readers out there on Deadline – there is another approach to getting live, linear broadcast television signals to mobile devices that you might like to know about –

[1] “EyeTV” Mobile app from Dyle, the branded Mobile DTV service from Mobile Content Venture. This iOS Dongle which supports iOS 5.1 or greater, and is free via the Apple App Store.

[2] MyDTV, a service from the Mobile500 group, which represents 400+ local television stations. Again, it also supports iOS and is free via the Apple App Store. MyDTV app has DVR functionality, but also carries banner and interstitial ads.

Support for Android is coming for both services (EyeTV and MyDTV), either direct from the Dyle or Mobile500 group, or from third-party startups [such as the one we work for]. ;)

THERE IS A CATCH HOWEVER [there always is] – There is an initial one-time cost- the ‘adapter’ that connects to the mobile device [iOS in this case] is essentially a mini TV antenna, and costs approx $100.00. It can be ordered via Elgato.com. Their website can provide more info. Best Buy and Radio Shack can place an order for you as well – they don’t (yet) stock the device.

We’re currently testing both services [Dyle/EyeTV and MyDTV] on various iOS devices and the Elgato adapter antennas here in the Bay Area/Silicon Valley. Performance is okay, but not great (yet). However, if you don’t have a cable subscription, and want to watch free ‘live’ broadcast TV signals (in your local area) while you are mobile and on the go, this Elgato solution is compelling, albeit not yet perfect. Also, we need to keep in mind the cost of our AT&T/Verizon/Sprint/T-Mobile/MetroPCS monthly bills. Streaming live broadcast events [via ‘WATCH ABC’ or otherwise] to a smart phone without an unlimited data plan could become expensive. The Elgato approach might solve that problem.

The advantage of going Dyle/MyDTV route (Elgato adapter and Dyle and/or MyDTV iOS app) is that once the initial adapter is purchased, all ‘free’ TV broadcast signals in your area can be watched live, linear, on the go on your mobile device. No need to have a cable subscription, no need to worry about monthly data over-runs on your smart phone bill. With this solution, viewers can watch live sporting events that are shown on their free-airwaves local network affiliates {CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, as well as PBS and independents.}

We have a question for anyone out there – do you know what company ABC is working with to develop this ‘WATCH ABC’ app?